Having a husband is a funny thing

Rudimentary child-order traits:

Oldest Child: Reliable, conscientious, aggressive, serious, intellectual, and stubborn. Natural leaders, perfectionists, achievers, people pleasers with a strong need for approval who don't like surprises. Need the attention and guidance they grew used to in their early years, but are less likely to say so. Over half of U.S. presidents are firstborns. In one word: Conscientious.  

Only Child: The uber-oldest child. Even more responsible and a perfectionist. Tend to hang out with people older than themselves. In one word: Intellectual. 

Middle Child: Independent, inventive, laid back, easy-going, and spontaneous. Read people well, see all sides of a situation, and act as peacemaker. Secretive with their thoughts and feelings, but also attention grabbers. Middle children build a very tight knit group of friends and peers outside the family. Middle children are the hardest to pin-down so the above characteristics may contradict each other. They seek approval of, but often are the complete opposite from the oldest sibling. In one word: Agreeable.

Youngest Child: Social, outgoing, secure, creative, financially irresponsible, just want to have a good time, love the limelight, charming, manipulative, spoiled, and helpless. In one word: Extravert.

from CBS news

These generalizations are, of course, muddled by age differences, sex, mixed families, new marriages etc... But you may find they apply to you or those you know. Generalizations like these can help us to accept our own characteristics or better understand why those around us act the way they do.

Check out your Romantic Compatibility according to your birth order HERE CLICK.

J and I are an First Born-Last Born mix, which is very compatible for pretty obvious reasons. I still have not gotten used to the idea of being married and every time I hear "your husband," I still giggle. Probably because I am a youngest child. 

Astrid versus the volcano

Me to J: "Tell me something to draw."
J to Me: "Draw a volcano." Pause. "Draw you being lowered into a volcano and me coming to rescue you." Pause. "Julian versus the volcano."

Mrs. Astrid Kirschenbaum

When it's nice and warm, but January nonetheless: booty shorts and short fuzzy booties! Other options that aren't so easy to get away with in any old climate, but do so seamlessly in California: leg warmers and ballerinas, skirts and just-below-the-knee scrunchy boots.

'Willpower' is a diet buzzword this day in age and therefore, I refrain from using it in my vocabulary. 'Discipline,' on the other hand, is good old-fashioned and yoga friendly. Living under my own roof and left to my own devices, I could certainly use a little more discipline, and so "Discipline" is my current mantra. 

Discipline for me right now means attending yoga regularly, keeping a clean home, hyper-organizing my belongings, celebrating holidays properly and commemorating special events, not googling random crap or celebrity gossip, preparing for bed before I'm too tired, drinking more water, and tackling the doomed and ever-looming wedding photo project. What does discipline mean to you at this moment?

Mr. Julian Kirschenbaum 

If, like J, you have something you would like me to draw or think I should doodle - leave it in the comments or e-mail me! ;)

"I just want to be LIVING while I'm living!"

 "There are so many health nuts out there who eat nothing but natural foods but they don't exercise and they look terrible. Then there are other people who exercise like a son-of-a-gun but eat a lot of junk ... Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Put them together and you've got a kingdom!"

"I only eat fish- no chicken, no turkey, just fish. I get all my protein from fish and egg whites."

"I do it as therapy. I do it as something to keep me alive. We all need a little discipline. Exercise is my discipline."

"The only way you can hurt the body is not to use it."

"Dying would wreck my image."

- Jack Lalanne, September 26th, 1914- January 23rd, 2011. Jack Lalanne died at the ripe old age of 96 and was sharp and fit until the very last day. 

Let's Juice! In honor of exercise guru, physical fitness legend, bodybuilder and juicing expert Jack Lalanne.

Jack's Super 7

2 carrots

1 potato

1 broccoli floret

1/2 small beet

1/4 red pepper

1 tomato

1/4 cucumber

Juice in order. 

this post is dedicated to MW&TA

California open air market

because it is seventies and sunny outside!
Now, I realize most of you are braving the cold during these months, so save this post for Spring... For my friends in Cali, Mexico, Boulder, Fl, or if you are just feeling fresh and funky- here is my favorite Ceviche from the Hillcrest market:

CHOP:
Mango
Cucumber
Jicama
Tomato
Shrimp.
ADD:
Cilantro
Lemon and Lime juice
Tajin, found at any Mexmarket.
SERVE
in a pretty glass dish (the martini glass is a popluar one)
ENJOY!!

A day in the life...

Quick Change: OMG, it's OM glamour!

Yoga to street. Adding a stylish coat and cute booties is a cinch- especially when you are wearing leggings tight all the way down, with no flair. In warm weather, like the summer-ific sun and seventies we've been having here in SoCal, layer a long Tee or breezy dress over your spandexy, ultra bendy attire. The simpler and tinier! your asana outfit underneath the easier it is to dress up. Jewelry is also a great way to take your Lululemon to the street. Or, as I do, wear non-yoga-ish clothes into gentler yoga classes and less pavement pounding tweaking is required. Also recall that a yoga outfit, a shelf bra tank and stretchy pants, fit easily into a roomie purse. Show up five minutes early and d a quick change in the bathroom. More on apres yoga to come!!! Please send me your not-so ashram style, too!

Extra-firm-tofu (from Trader Joe's) two ways:

Both are one-pan dishes! We know what that means, easy clean-up! 1. Bake olive oil brushed and seasoned tofu at 400 for 15min with other veggies of similar size, yams shown. Serve with a large leafy salad. 2. Simmer tofu and other veggies in lite coconut milk with chosen seasoning; zucchini, apple, cayenne pepper and cinnamon above right. Serve over soba noodles. 

Tofu is easy(er) to have on hand than the more perishable poultry/fish/meat. Extra firm tofu is easier to get meat-eaters or picky peeps to eat as it has a dense and chewy, agreeable consistency.

googlemap posterity art

Have you ever been perusing the streets and see a funny car go by flashing all sorts of pictures from an installation on its roof?! GoogleMap that location and spy on your fine self! According to my source, my amazing older brother (who randomly decided to hunt this down about three years after its inception,) the quality is better now than the circa 2007 date of this impromptu photo-shoot. Happy hunting!

howling at the moon

January 19th: Full Moon

In Ashtanga Yoga, full and new moon days are observed as yoga holidays. Yoga is not practiced on the full moon because energy levels are at a headstrong type high making us prone to injury. A break is also taken during the new moon when energy is correspondingly low. This belief comes from the moon's control over the ocean's tides, and hence our very watery bodies. 

My mother can never sleep on the full moon. Do you have any moon-related issues, habits, absurdities, superstitions? Mark your calendars: the next new moon is February 3rd and the next full moon is February 18th. 

L4YER CAKE mmmm

Astrid Parker about-to-be Kirschenbaum at the altar in a confection of a dress. 

Pink and Yellow! Pink and Yellow! and ice blue... The ice cream/sorbet bombe is the simplest layer cake you could dream of concocting. Desired flavors and colors are softened with a mixer one at a time and layered into cake molds, vases or any tantalizingly shaped vessel that can withstand the freezer. Chill the container before filling, and then dip in warm water when dislodging.  

As with all other outfits, remember too, to accessorize your wedding dress. I wore little cashmere gloves like the ones above and removed them when it was time to read vows and exchange rings. I also had a pocket! put into my dress to store my vows and lip gloss...

Roll up your mat like your mama taught ya

The true practice of yoga is how we live every moment of every day. You can tell a true yogi not by what they do on their mat, but how, after practice, they roll it up.

Get a fun and crazy yoga mats like the ones below, HERE. They are adorable, but more for the fun of it: I find that Gaiam mats are not very durable or sticky.

 

DAILY YOGA

Trust Yourself First

Living your yoga: Others can offer us help and advice, but deep inside we know what is best for us. Today consciously choose to trust yourself first when you make a decision.  ~ A Year of Living Your Yoga: Daily Practices to Shape Your Life by Judith Hanson Lasater

I downloaded this book unto my iPhone so at anytime during the day I can retrieve the daily lesson and return to my yoga. The days are laid out in Month/Day format, i.e. 'January 8th', so you can visit the daily lessons as sporadically or regularly as you please.
As we know, technology can be a wonderful aid or a distracting hindrance; my lamentable T.V. time and internet surfing are in dire need of auditing. One rule I always abide by: no commercials. 

color coding

Happy New Year from Astrid Kirschenbaum

Happy New Year!!!

Rather than picking a theme, pick a color scheme for an elegant evening. 

Our New Year's dinner was all WHITE, at least it was supposed to be. The bean dip hors d'oeuvres, celery-apple soup, and potato tart were all of the white and cream colored family, but at the last minute we decided to serve the lobster meat (white) in its shell (RED!) and so we matched the dinner table to have the same pop of color on an otherwise monochromatic setting. Just like the food. 

The Lobsters were named, pre-boiled, and then broiled just before serving. 

The accidental pièce-de-la-resistance though, the true winner, was a last minute concoction, a white trifle.  Store bought angel food cake was layered with a coconut cream from which mmm's and aaah's were heard by all. Not one guest refused seconds. Even one particular lady, whom I have known for years to keep her tiny waistline by never delving in for another bite, took a heaping, serving spoonful more.



Vanishing White Trifle

1 bag Shredded Coconut
Milk (about 4 cups)
Coconut water (about 8 oz)
Egg yolks  (about 3)
3-4 Bananas
Angel Food Cake
Whipping cream

Boil an entire bag of grated unsweetened coconut into a pot of milk with a little coconut water and a tad bit of sweetener. I use a tablespoon of agave. Once the coconut aroma has infused the milk, sieve it out, pressing firmly. Add a few egg yolks and gently heat again, VERY LOW VERY SLOW so it does not curdle and just coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.

Layer with store bought angel food cake and 3-4 very thinly sliced bananas, top with unsweetened home-whipped cream; heavy whipping cream in the mixer until it stiffens. The sweetness of the cake is enough to sweeten the entire dessert, adding very little or no sugar to the coconut cream and whipped cream is what makes the dessert so refined. Not to mention the bombastic natural coconut flavor that will knock your Wolford socks off!